While Ian was making his G rank floor with the spider room and the swallow room, he continued to teach the three goblins and one hobgoblin. Well, teach was not the right word for it. He told them to practice the mana manipulation and mana perception skills that he forcibly had them obtain and then left them to their devices.
As he watched the four meditate and try to improve their skills, he felt that something was off. Not in how they were practicing, although that wasn’t great either, but in how they were acting and the overall feeling that came off of them.
When he told them to just practice their skills, they simply did what he asked without questioning it. Yervin would have at least rolled his eyes. In fact, now that he thought about it, Mina hadn’t responded with a ‘Yes, my lord’, but simply went to practice. The more Ian thought on it, the more he realized that they were acting differently with him than they were just a while ago.
Did he do something to make them act like that? Or were they just too excited about practicing? Ian ignored the possibility of the latter and started to think about what he could have done. It only took a couple of minutes before Ian realized the large mistake he had made.
When he had forcibly manipulated their mana, he had done something horrible. Without even asking them, he made them feel weak and powerless through an invasive manipulation of their own bodies. Why had he done it? True, he wanted to let them have the mana manipulation and mana perception skills, but they would have most likely agreed to the process if he was upfront with them about what he was going to do and the risks involved.
The only sapient creatures he experimented on were ones who gave their full consent during the process. With what he did to them, that statement was no longer true. Did that mean he still saw them as monsters? When he was human, he experimented on monsters and non-sapient creatures extensively. Most of those didn’t have the ability to give consent. Ian thought he saw his goblins and hobgoblin as sapient monsters, but it was possible he still had innate prejudices. However, those innate prejudices might only be for specific species of monsters as he would not experiment on a dragon without their express permission.
This revelation caused Ian’s non-existent heart to sink into the pit of his stomach. He knew he needed to apologize to the four of them, but was a simple apology enough? How would he breach the subject that he did what he did because he subconsciously still saw them as monsters? He went back and forth about how to apologize to them until finally his discussion with Botan snapped him out of it.
Resolved, Ian called the four trainees attention, “I have something I wish to say to the four of you.”
The four opened their eyes and stared in the direction of Ian’s voice from the crossed legged position.
“For a while now,” Ian began, “I’ve had this feeling that you don’t see me the same way as you used to. I racked my brain for why this was before I came on the reason. Without your consent, I forcibly manipulated your internal mana. Although you felt no pain because of my magic, I made you weak and powerless, which is not a feeling most people enjoy.
“The most likely reason I did this was that I subconsciously still saw you as monsters instead of the sapient creatures you are.”
Ian created a goblin body which he inhabited.
He continued with a bow, “I sincerely apologize for causing you anxiety. I’ll make all the effort possible to no longer think of you as monsters and always ask your permission before I do something involving you. I know that an apology is as good as the actions surrounding it, so I don’t expect you to forgive me immediately. However, I hope you’ll be able to forgive me eventually.”
The three goblins became especially flustered after Ian had bowed to them, while Yervin looked uncomfortable.
The first one to speak up was Yervin, “I appreciate the apology Ian, however we weren’t really mad at you, rather we were confused.”
The other three started to shake their heads up and down in affirmation.
“You say you subconsciously treated us like monsters, but we are monsters, so what do you mean by that?” asked Yervin.
“Right,” nodded Ian, “What I mean by ‘treating you like monsters’ is that even monsters with intelligence enjoy causing harm and pain to others, so I have no qualms about experimenting on or hurting them. Based on that, you wouldn’t be monsters in my viewpoint as you don’t innately enjoy hurting others. The goblins I created on the maze floor, however, are like normal monsters.”
“I see. Still, none of your other actions so far have treated us like you described. Well, maybe blowing up goblin bodies in front of us, but that is most likely a part of the mindset you had which you are currently apologizing for. Anyway,” Yervin continued, “are you sure that it was you subconsciously treating us like monsters and not something else?”
“Yes, my lord!” yelled Mina, “We were only acting strangely because of how unusual your actions were compared to normal.”
Izu piped up, “Although, there were some similarities to how you treat the creatures that don’t talk.”
“I agree with everything said so far!” said the last female goblin with a raised hand.
Ian contemplated Yervin’s suggestion. Based on what Izu said, he was right in his reasoning that he treated them like monsters or non-sapient creatures, but Yervin was also right about him treating them like sapient creatures beforehand.
While Ian was thinking to himself, Yervin interrupted his thoughts, “Why did you think you subconsciously saw us as monsters?”
“When I was human, I only experimented on monsters, non-sapient creatures, and consenting sapient creatures,” answered Ian.
“Are you sure those are the only things you experimented on?”
After a quick thought, one other thing clicked in Ian’s mind, “I suppose there’s another one, although it technically falls under the consenting sapient creatures umbrella.”
“What is it?”
“Myself.”
“Then, is it a possibility that you saw us as a part of yourself?”
“You know….you might be right, Yervin. The abnormal feeling I got from you four might not be me suddenly having the ability to recognize other people’s hidden feelings. If there’s a innate connection between me, the dungeon core, and the monsters I create, you, then I might have seen you as myself, already consenting to experimentation.”
“Is there any way to prove this?”
“I could conduct experiments, but I would need to find the right experiments and that will take time.”
“Is there anything faster? Maybe you could ask someone that already knows?”
“Asking someone? I suppose I could ask the System, but they probably won’t respond. ….Ah right. There’s that perk.”
“What’s that?”
“A perk is a dungeon ability I can get.”
“Oh? What does this perk you’re thinking of do?” asked Yervin.
“It’s called Helper and answers questions related to the dungeon,” replied Ian.
Yervin’s face became condescending, “And why don’t you already have that?”
“Because I like experimenting and figuring out things on my own,” said Ian without a hint of remorse in his voice.
“I assume you’re willing to get it now?”
“Of course, if I can that is.”
“Why wouldn’t you be able to get it?”
“It was one of the perks I could get during the dungeon tutorial. I also get more perks at level one hundred, so I don’t know if I can just buy it from the dungeon shop. I know I can buy some, but others, like the ecosystem perk, I can’t buy.”
With a nod to one another, Ian went to the dungeon shop. Luckily the Helper perk was there. He purchased it, although without much pleasure.
A spherical metal ball about a closed fist in size appeared around his core. After the four trainees were told that the perk produced a ball in his core room, they transferred to the core room.
“Alright I’ll ask it the question,” began Ian, “Is there an innate connection between me and my dungeon creatures that may subconsciously make me think of them as myself?”
“Yes,” the ball hummed.
“Why is this innate connection present?”
“To prevent dungeon creatures from rebelling against the dungeon core and to prevent dungeon creatures from leaving the dungeon.”
“Based on that, this connection does more than simply create a connection between the dungeon and its creatures. Right?”
“Correct.”
“What are the other things it does?”
“I cannot answer that.”
“....Why not?”
“A limited set of questions can be answered without any prior actions being taken. However, most questions will only be answered after the dungeon has tried to figure it out on their own. If the dungeon still does not understand the problem, then I am allowed to answer their questions.”
“That’s some bullshit. Not much of a helper are you.”
“If all the answers of dungeon building were given to fledging dungeons, not only would they be overloaded with information but a lack of innovation would result.”
“I’d say you’ve done a poor job of encouraging innovation in fledgling dungeons based on the early floors of dungeons I’ve seen.”
“Even though most early floors may look and act similar across dungeons, that does not mean they are not the building blocks of future innovation.”
Stolen story; please report.
“That’s a fair point. I’ll agree with you there.”
After a short pause, Ian asked another question, “Is the innate connection between myself and my creatures the reason for my experimenting on them without their permission?”
“I cannot answer questions of a personal nature. I can only answer questions related to dungeon mechanics. You must figure out that question for yourself.”
Ian stopped asking questions and turned his attention away from the metallica ball.
“Did you hear its answers?” he asked the four.
They all responded with, “Nope.”
“I see. Well, basically what Yervin thought was right. There’s a connection between me and my dungeon creatures. However, it could not answer whether the connection was the reason I experimented on you without your consent.
“Nothing has changed however. Even if the connection was the reason for my actions, they were still my actions. As such, I’ll apologize again.”
“My lord! Do not worry about us. Even though it is not firm evidence, hearing a possible reason for why you acted out of character relieves us!” bellowed Mina.
“I’d prefer firmer evidence, but I do agree with Mina,” said Yervin with a shrug.
Izu and the other female goblin simply gave a nod of assent.
“Thank you,” responded Ian, “However, I’ll have to make it up to you in some way. First off, I’ll get more serious about teaching you. I’ll fully admit I hate teaching, so I simply winged it. If you’re willing to wait, I’ll come up with a lesson plan. It may not be the best way to learn, but it’s better than nothing.”
“I appreciate the resolve, Ian, but is there a perk like that helper that would teach us better than you can? Or maybe a perk that makes you a better teacher?” asked Yervin.
“Yervin!” scolded Mina, “It may be true that lord’s teaching was terrible, but we must give him a second chance.”
“Well, I want to learn as fast as possible, and I’m sure Ian would rather put his full attention to building the dungeon.”
“My lord?”
Ian sighed, “He’s not wrong, Mina. I hate teaching. However, I’d still like to spend some time getting to know each of you. ….How about I build a floor with each of your inputs?”
“I’ll acquiesce, my lord, but I would still rather have you try to teach me personally,” said Mina.
“Sorry about that Mina, but I’m sure anything I find in the dungeon shop will be able to teach you better than I can.
“Also, getting to know you while making a dungeon floor is a benefit to both of us, so it doesn’t really make up for what I did. Hmm….oh! I know! I already made Mina and Izu a private room, although there’s nothing in it, so how about I make each of you private rooms? I’ll also furnish them along with Mina’s and Izu’s room.”
“I’d very much like a private room,” responded Yervin.
“““Sounds good.””” said the other three goblins.
“How about I make your rooms after I level up one more time?” asked Ian, “I’ve already selected my terrain for my current dungeon area, and a terrain with buildings will most likely make better rooms or houses.”
The one hobgoblin and three goblins nodded their assent.
“Alright then,” began Ian, “let me find something like a Teaching Room.”
About half an hour later, after searching different keywords and a lot of scrolling, Ian found what he wanted.
The Learning Room, as it was called, had the ability to teach five subjects, from the dungeon’s memory, to five individuals. However, it was limited to teaching level one skills or the level one equivalent for things unrelated to skills. Also, the format was a simple disembodied voice lecturing.
As much as he hated teaching and sucked at it, he knew the learning room needed more than a disembodied voice. With that in mind he began purchasing upgrades for the Room. He purchased upgrades that made the lecture voice have a physical body and could interact with the students. The room could now teach up to level five skills, ten subjects, and ten individuals. The students could now also view their status in the room. The room started out completely bare, so Ian purchased the classroom, gym, and magic sphere upgrades. With those they could learn information, practice their physical skills, and practice their magic skills respectively.
He placed the room directly off of the bare training room he made. It was approximately the same size as the other Rooms, however the inside was much larger, obviously the work of space magic, with the classroom, gym, and magic sphere all present.
All that was left was to choose the subjects. Ian had his own ideas, but decided to ask the four what they wanted to learn. He would ask Narcy when she woke up, and Botan when he got back from helping him decide on the plants for the swallow room.
“I’ve purchased the Learning Room and some upgrades. We need to decide on what subjects it will teach. Right now I purchased enough upgrades for ten subjects. Based on the description I can’t change the subject once I’ve selected it. What subjects do you want to learn the most?”
Mina roared while saluting, “Swordsmanship!”
Izu squeaked out with a raised hand, “Water elementals!”
The female goblin also yelled, “Fighting!”
Yervin mused for a while before stating, “How to control innate magic abilities.”
“Okay, sounds good. I’ll include some variation of those, plus what Botan and Narcy suggest, and subjects I think will be good,” announced Ian.
The reaction Ian received from the four was not what he expected. Mina and Izu looked confused, the female goblin looked like she was about to cry, while Yervin was looking between the female goblin and Ian with a ‘you going to do something about this’ look. Normally it would take a while for Ian to pick up on what was wrong, but the reaction of the female goblin instantly reminded him.
“I’m so sorry! I named Botan and Narcy when I was deciding how to apologize to you. I’ll give you a name now. Is that okay?” Ian apologized profusely.
The female goblin sniffled a little, but nodded her head.
Ian had been thinking about what her name should be since he named Botan and Narcy, so it didn’t take him long.
“How about Pugi?”
“....I think it fits me, but I’m not sure,” she muttered.
However, whether or not that would be her name was quickly answered when Mina screamed, “Pugi!” and gave her a big hug.
The somewhat depressed look on her face changed into a smile as Pugi hugged Mina back.
Yervin interrupted the nice moment and asked Ian, “You install the subjects yet?”
“I was deciding on Pugi’s name,” answered Ian.
“You’ve been splitting your mind for a while now. You couldn’t do it again?”
“I did it because I promised to teach you. I don’t like doing it as it is uncomfortable for me. However, I am trying to make it so I can at least pay a minimum attention to everything to keep things running properly. In fact, I wonder if the uncomfortable feeling contributed to my experimenting on you four. I’d rather not continue with my mind split and only focus on one major thing at a time.”
Yervin shrugged, “Do what you want, it’s your dungeon.”
Ian began installing the subjects into the learning room. As he did so, he wondered how the room would deal with general versus specific subjects. He reread the description, but it said nothing about it. It felt like a waste of a subject slot, but he would need to try sometime. Ian installed a general course on water elementals and a more specific course on water elemental skills. There didn’t seem to be anything that changed, so he would have to wait for the actual lectures. He installed swordsmanship, fighting, and using innate magic skills. Sadly Yervin wouldn’t get a first hand lecture as Ian didn’t have any innate magic skills as a human. Most of his knowledge in that area came from observations.
“Alright, you four, I’ve installed the subjects, so you can enter the learning room now,” said Ian.
They walked into the room where Ian directed them towards the classroom. He assumed it would be best to start with knowledge. The three goblins and one hobgoblin each sat at a desk where a window popped up asking them to choose a subject. Three of them selected immediately, but Izu couldn’t decide between the two. Ian told him just to pick the general one for now and pick the specific one after he finished the general one. He also asked Izu to tell him the differences between the two courses after he finished both of them.
After Izu picked his subject, Yervin spoke up, “It seems we can only select the level one course. The other courses have timers on them.”
“Really?” answered Ian, “Let me have a look,” as he focused his vision on Yervin’s desk.
“Hmm, you’re right,” muttered Ian, “Level two has an eight day or a week timer, level three has a forty day or a month timer, level four has a two hundred day or five month timer, and level five has a four hundred day or one year timer.”
“Do you know what the timer is for?” asked Yervin.
“No. Try touching the timer and see if anything happens.”
Yervin touched the timer which brought up a new window, “It says ‘Time to convert dungeon’s knowledge into usable teaching material. Average time for a level five conversion: one month’.” As Yervin finished reading the window, he had a wide smirk on his face.
“What is the point of putting the average time, dammit,” muttered Ian, “Anyway, you can spend time learning the level one skill or equivalent for now. I don’t know if the information taught here will always persist in your mind or if you actually have to spend effort on learning the material. If it’s the latter, you can hopefully redo the course. If it’s the former, you can do a different course if the level two course hasn’t unlocked yet.”
With Ian’s words, they began their lectures. He waited for the lecturer to appear, but nothing happened. However, each of their eyes seemed to be tracking something that Ian couldn’t see. It seemed that even though the lecturer was a physical entity that could interact with the student, they weren’t a physical manifestation in his dungeon. It made sense as having four voices talk over each other in the same room would not make for a good classroom. He wondered if they all picked the same subject, would the lecturer manifest themselves then?
Ian continued to think as he watched them. Why was a Room like this in the dungeon? It made his monsters more intelligent and stronger sure, but there must be a easier method that didn’t respect the monsters as much. Did the learning room appear in the dungeon shop because he had it in mind that he didn’t want to hurt his monsters or was it the default way to teach monsters? A moment of silence reigned as Ian realized he had a way to answer that questions.
“Hey, Helper. Is the Learning Room the default way to teach monsters in the dungeon?” asked Ian.
“It is one of the main ways to teach dungeon creatures, yes.” replied the metal sphere.
“What are the other ways?”
“You saw them while searching for the learning room.”
“....Okay, but a lot of the options seemed unfit to actually teaching.”
“That may be true for you and many fellow humanoids.”
“Right, creatures learn in different ways,” Ian stroked his inner spine, “I’ll have to relook at those options if I ever get sapient non-humanoids like dragons.”
“May I ask a question?”
“I thought you were supposed to answer those.”
“Why did you not choose dragons or other sapient humanoids during the tutorial?”
Ian turned his book to look at the spherical troublemaker, “Don’t ignore me,” but still answered the question with a sigh, “At first it was a simple matter of not feeling comfortable with creating and lording over fellow sapient races. Now that the goblins I’ve created are acting like sapient races, I’ll probably pick them up in the future.
“However, if I saw sapient humanoids on the early floors of a dungeon, even I would get a little mad at the dungeon. I would only be able to conclude that it was enslaving them somehow. It may not be logical, but the fact that a dungeon is creating beings exactly like you isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Most people simply wouldn’t want to think that something that aims to kill people can also create them. In regards to dragons, well, that’s a personal problem that I don’t want to get into.”
Ian was met with silence after his answer.
“Was that a good enough answer, System, hijacker of Helpers?” asked Ian.
The metal sphere twitched but said nothing.
As Ian watched the four learn, Botan returned to the core room. His vision zoomed on Botan and Narcy, who was luckily awake.
“Hey, you two,” started Ian, “First off, I’ve named the last female goblin. Her name’s Pugi.”
“I’m glad you finally named her,” said Botan while nodding, “Does that mean you made up with the other four?”
“Yep. At least they seem to have forgiven me, and normally I’d say I’m not the best judge of that, but as I get a general feeling from all of you I think it’s accurate this time.”
“Yah~” said Narcy with a drowsy voice and two raised fists.
Ian began, “Now, I’ve made a learning room, so what subjects do you two want to learn about?”
“Plants!” shouted Botan.
“Sleeping,” muttered Narcy.
“Alright I’ll add those. How about you two enter the Room and begin your lessons?” asked Ian, “But, before I forget, I’ll also be making you private rooms later on.”
The two goblins nodded their heads and went off to the learning room. Ian made sure to install the two subjects into the room before they arrived. They sat down into the empty chairs and began. About an hour or two later, Narcy had fallen asleep at her desk. He chuckled at the sight and hoped the lecture didn’t continue with her sleeping.
For the final three subjects, Ian added mana perception, mana manipulation, and mana refinement.
With all five of the goblins and one hobgoblin studying, he turned all his focus back on his dungeon. He already had some ideas in mind that would change how he laid out his floors. He also needed the six to finish their subjects, so he could create floors with them. But first he needed to finish his G rank floor, the second floor, as quick as possible. He hoped to have at least sixty days left after he finished his intended second floor.